Metal Fitters and Machinists
Metal fitters and machinists operate machine tools, assemble metal components, and perform precision fabrication work in manufacturing, engineering, and maintenance environments across Australian industries. They read technical drawings, set up and operate lathes, mills, grinders, and other machine tools to shape, cut, drill, and finish metal parts to specification.
What this job is
Metal fitters and machinists operate machine tools, assemble metal components, and perform precision fabrication work in manufacturing, engineering, and maintenance environments across Australian industries. They read technical drawings, set up and operate lathes, mills, grinders, and other machine tools to shape, cut, drill, and finish metal parts to specification. They fit, align, and assemble component parts using hand tools, measurement instruments, and fastening systems to construct machinery, equipment, or structures.
Are employers advertising this role?
Rising, up 8.5% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Read and interpret engineering drawings, blueprints, and technical specifications to determine machining operations and tolerances required. Set up and operate centre lathes, vertical milling machines, horizontal boring machines, and grinders with appropriate cutting tools and coolants. Measure and verify finished components using micrometres, callipers, dial gauges, and coordinate measuring machines to confirm conformance to tolerances. Select, install, and adjust cutting tools, dies, and fixtures on machine tools and establish feed rates, spindle speeds, and depths of cut. Fit and align metal components using hand tools including spanners, socket sets, and specialised fitting tools such as pullers and presses. Assemble component parts using bolts, screws, rivets, and welding to construct machinery sub-assemblies or complete units. Inspect machined surfaces for dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and defects using visual assessment and precision measurement instruments. Perform preventive maintenance on machine tools including cleaning, lubrication, tool changes, and minor adjustment to maintain operational efficiency.
Who does this now
About 1,400 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation were generally able to find suitable applicants in 2025. Ratings are not the same everywhere. NSW and NT were rated in shortage. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.
The honest hard part
Getting your Certificate III or IV takes 1 to 2 years and costs money upfront. Once qualified, you're competing against people with years of hands-on experience. The work is repetitive and physically demanding: standing all day, noise, metal dust, and risk of hand injuries from machinery. Pay plateaus after you've been doing it a while, and automation is steadily replacing simpler machining tasks.
Where the jobs are
Regional centres with mining support services and agricultural equipment makers also employ these workers. Jobs follow manufacturing clusters and are rarely remote. Work is available but scattered across multiple smaller employers rather than concentrated in one sector.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 3232, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
Skills
- Adhere to traffic regulations on inland waterwayscore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
- Incident Reportingcore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Process Documentationcore
- Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Workload Self-Managementcore
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- ERP and Inventory Systems
- Inventory Tracking
- Process Improvement Identification
- Purchase Order Processing
- Supplier Communication
- Written Communication
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
Want a hand with what comes next? The 12-week Sprint covers your resume, LinkedIn and interview practice, with up to three coach reviews of a targeted resume or an application from an Australian career coach, for A$299 paid once. Before you decide anything, you can read who we are or send us a question.